Innovation and Sustainability Fund

The purpose of this fund is to encourage innovative community, school or business projects that support the Council's vision and strategic priorities.

Apply for the Innovation and Sustainability Fund

Applications can be made at any time throughout the year until funds are exhausted.

Applicants can generally expect decisions to be made within two months, depending on the scale of the grant requested.

Successful and unsuccessful applications will be public information. If there are aspects of your application that should be kept out of the public domain in accordance with the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, you should clearly show this in your application.

Who can apply

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

Community organisations, social enterprises and businesses can apply to this fund. Preference will be given to Christchurch-based organisations or partnerships involving Christchurch organisations. Generally, applications lead by central, regional or local government organisations will not be considered. Partnerships involving government organisations are acceptable.

The applicants must be a legal entity registered in New Zealand such as an incorporated society, charitable trust or limited liability company. Individuals seeking funding will need to partner with a legal entity and include an endorsement letter from that legal entity in the application.

This fund will not support projects principally advancing commercial or personal gain. Proposals must deliver a public good or environmental outcome for Christchurch.

Only one application per project will be accepted each Council financial year (July to June). Organisations may put forward more than one project in a year.

This fund is intended to deliver tangible outcomes that benefit Christchurch. Funding will generally not be allocated to projects solely undertaking investigations such as scoping, research or feasibility.

Applicants should have made efforts to secure funding from other sources before applying to this fund.

How proposals will be assessed

Proposals will be assessed against the following evaluation criteria and how they respond to the Council’s vision and strategic priorities. Applications should consider how they meet each of the following criteria:

Evaluation criteria

Explanation

Innovation

The project is a new idea or locally applies good ideas and approaches from elsewhere or supports innovation in Christchurch.

Sustainability

The project addresses a sustainability issue or opportunity of particular importance to Christchurch. Consideration will be given to the nature or scale of benefits provided and the significance of the issue or opportunity being addressed by the project.

Legacy

The project will be able to deliver benefits beyond the funding period, it can have enduring benefits or can be self-sustaining.

Deliverable

The applicant is able to successfully deliver the project and achieve the stated outcomes (e.g. the applicant has the required skills, experience, resources or support to complete the project).

Measurable

The project will result in measureable benefits or outcomes for Christchurch that will be monitored and reported on at the completion of the project.

Applications will be considered by the Council’s Innovation and Sustainable Development Committee.

What funding is available

A total of $500,000 has been allocated by the Council in 2017–18.

To enable swift decision making, applications seeking up to and including $10,000 will be approved by the Head of Urban Regeneration, Urban Design and Heritage. Applications seeking between $10,001 and $100,000 will be delegated to the Innovation and Sustainable Development Committee, and Council approval will be required for Committee funding recommendations over $100,001.

Generally the fund will provide no more than 60 per cent of the project costs with the remainder to come from other sources. These can include in-kind contributions such as time or resources supplied to the project by others. In general, funds allocated should be spent within twelve months of being received. Multi-year applications can be considered provided the business case is compelling and progress reports for milestones are provided.

Funds can be requested for operational aspects (e.g. staff time) and for materials or equipment needed to successfully deliver the project outcomes.

Organisations that are GST registered should be aware that this grant is an unconditional gift and does not attract GST.

Other funds to consider before applying

Applicants are encouraged to approach other funds that may be more suited to specific proposals.

The Council provides a wide range of community funds for community, art and event-related projects.